Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2026-27 offseason part III

[JrFischer54]

CJ as the source, not sure how tapped in he is but this makes sense with Dougie's underlying numbers

they pretty much have to keep him at this point imo which isn't terrible he still has offensive upside

 

[Devils Trap]

Only way hes dealt is if we get Quinn this summer IMO

 

[guitarguyvic]

No excuses. The two main reasons why we didn’t meet expectations have been Jack Hughes being injured and Luke Hughes (getting injured) and not being even close to what he was at his best a couple years ago.

You can dance around it and really emphasize Bratt missing a few goals or Timo not living up to expectations, but it starts at the top. But if you think about it for 10 seconds, our best hope of ever being something is banking on Jack and Luke again. Obviously.

So either advocate moving them or stop crying about the core, because they are most at fault.

Once again, 110 point pace this year when Jack and Luke both played. That was the big issue is their health. You can even argue that its more cause Jack's first few games back he couldnt hold a stick and we lost nearly all of them

That would win the Metro lmao. Their health is paramount to our success

This is incredible. Do you guys listen to yourselves.

On the one hand: “Our best players have strong underlyings and are great players!”

On the other hand: “If just the best one among them gets injured that’s why we turn into a lottery team.”

Reconciling these two statements is some next level mental gymnastics.

 

[Devils Trap]

This is incredible. Do you guys listen to yourselves.

On the one hand: “Our best players have strong underlyings and are great players!”

On the other hand: “The reason the devils have turned in lottery level performances is because one of those forwards got injured.”

Reconciling these two statements is some next level mental gymnastics.

Yea its why Im not worried about the core. Go change up some depth pieces, work on the blue line. Maybe we can get an Owen Tippett up front to finish the Top 6.

We are in great hands with our GM atleast

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

This team for whatever reason forgot how to score for 2 months. This included Jack's time away but even when he came back, his shot was clearly affected and he was good for 1 assist a game while we lost 3-1 but nothing more. Those 2 months were so bad though, I don't remember anything like it outside of 2014-2016. Nico and Bratt are good players, there is no way they should look like that. Maybe the best thing is too look at that period as an aberration?

 

[devilsblood]

This is incredible. Do you guys listen to yourselves.

On the one hand: “Our best players have strong underlyings and are great players!”

On the other hand: “If just the best one among them gets injured that’s why we turn into a lottery team.”

Reconciling these two statements is some next level mental gymnastics.

Not really.

If Nico is putting up great numbers, both on ice, as well as goals for, like as I pointed out he typically does, but Jack gets injured and the team stinks, that's not a knock on Nico.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Connelly is the only guy they've held onto no? Its absolutely relevant, they have taken a vastly different approach than just trade futures for nows, they reload it every single year with no emphasis on prospect or draft capital. Like i mentioned, similar to the Rams in football

Sure if you don’t count any guys who were in the org for multiple years, and then eventually got traded or didn’t do well enough to stay around. 3 of the 7 apart from Connelly fit that bill. You’re shifting the goalposts rather conveniently.

There is nothing never seen before about their philosophy. They’ve been pretty aggressive yes but they’ve been a consistent contender since they entered the league so they trade more futures for current players. Which is also massively helped by so many players wanting to go there.

“they reload it every single year with no emphasis on prospect or draft capital” - this couldn’t be a more vague and ambiguous statement. They put a ton of emphasis on prospects and draft capital. They make picks when they have them and try to choose the best prospects and they trade those picks and prospects when opportunities present themselves and they think it makes sense.

 

[The Grinder]

It’s just the start of the offseason with a new GM. I think fans that had to trudge through the last few seasons deserve a little hope and optimism with their team.

We know what went wrong last year. This team is fixable without major surgery but won’t be a true contender without something drastic happening.

let’s just see what happens over the next week and we will have a better idea if gloom is justified.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Here’s a fun thought experiment. If just Bratt gets injured for 30 games but Jack remains in the lineup at 100% doing this thing, do we think the devils turn into a lottery team?

If just Timo misses 30 games and Jack stays in the lineup at 100% do we think the devils turn into a lottery team?

The last time Nico missed a large chunk of games, Jack was still healthy and the team treaded water just fine while he was out.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Not really.

If Nico is putting up great numbers, both on ice, as well as goals for, like as I pointed out he typically does, but Jack gets injured and the team stinks, that's not a knock on Nico.

Good job just focusing on a single player in this hypothetical.

You cannot logically reconcile the argument that we have multiple great forwards, but also if just one specific one among them gets injured that’s the primary reason the team suddenly sucks. It is completely contradictory.

 

[MB3]

One thing to mention on the Grits contract; if the Devils do decide to use him in a package for a big fish, they're probably incentivized to let the acquiring team decide what they want to pay him. Obviously we've seen different GMs have different philosophies on contract length/etc, and it probably adds to his value that it's still a "controllable" value. A cap-strapped team might prefer to bridge him to have a productive and relatively cheap player, where a rebuilding team may prefer to "overpay" him now if they believe he'll become elite down the line.

 

[Devils Trap]

One thing to mention on the Grits contract; if the Devils do decide to use him in a package for a big fish, they're probably incentivized to let the acquiring team decide what they want to pay him. Obviously we've seen different GMs have different philosophies on contract length/etc, and it probably adds to his value that it's still a "controllable" value. A cap-strapped team might prefer to bridge him to have a productive and relatively cheap player, where a rebuilding team may prefer to "overpay" him now if they believe he'll become elite down the line.

I agree, but id rather hold onto him then lose him for Jason Robertson tbh.

 

[devilsblood]

I have another fun thought experiment.

If a player dominates on ice and goals for, but the team stinks, does that mean the player is no good?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

This is incredible. Do you guys listen to yourselves.

On the one hand: “Our best players have strong underlyings and are great players!”

On the other hand: “If just the best one among them gets injured that’s why we turn into a lottery team.”

Reconciling these two statements is some next level mental gymnastics.

I didn’t say anything about “underlyings”. Jack Hughes is one of the 10 best players in the NHL however you want to measure it. Luke Hughes has been okay to shit outside of a ~30 game stretch where he was unreal, and he needs to be closer to that great stretch for us to make any noise.

I don’t even know what is being argued. You want to do something with the “core”. Okay. Nothing changes that much without Jack and Luke being healthy and good.

 

[devilsblood]

Good job just focusing on a single player in this hypothetical.

You cannot logically reconcile the argument that we have multiple great forwards, but also if just one specific one among them gets injured that’s the primary reason the team suddenly sucks. It is completely contradictory.

Same goes for Bratt. And to a lesser extent Timo.

It was all included in the post above. Didn't think I needed to reiterate every name.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I didn’t say anything about “underlyings”. Jack Hughes is one of the 10 best players in the NHL however you want to measure it. Luke Hughes has been okay to shit outside of a ~30 game stretch where he was unreal, and he needs to be closer to that great stretch for us to make any noise.

I don’t even know what is being argued. You want to do something with the “core”. Okay. Nothing changes that much without Jack and Luke being healthy and good.

I call BS on your last statement. A stronger top six forward group softens the blow of a Jack injury and allows this team to at least tread water if/when he is out of the lineup.

The bottom line is that if this team’s best players outside of Jack were as effective as you people insist they are, then this team wouldn’t become lottery contenders the second Jack gets injured.

The friggin Edmonton oilers tread water more effectively than the devils when the best player in the world is out of their lineup.

The argument is that our top six isn’t good enough, no matter how much people try to hyper focus on micro trends while ignoring the macro. They lack a level of physical and mental fortitude that clearly isn’t being captured by underlying statistics but is very clear to one’s eyeballs and in the large sample size of macro results.

 

[devilsblood]

Did Quinn get significantly better after being traded from a crap team to a playoff team?

Is any one dumb enough to argue that Quinn was the problem in Vancouver?

 

[guitarguyvic]

I have another fun thought experiment.

If a player dominates on ice and goals for, but the team stinks, does that mean the player is no good?

This is a cute game you’re playing, but we are talking about the collective of multiple top forwards, not any singular one player.

 

[devilsblood]

I call BS on your last statement. A stronger top six forward group softens the blow of a Jack injury and allows this team to at least tread water if/when he is out of the lineup.

The bottom line is that if this team’s best players outside of Jack were as effective as you people insist they are, then this team wouldn’t become lottery contenders the second Jack gets injured.

The friggin Edmonton oilers tread water more effectively than the devils when the best player in the world is out of their lineup.

The argument is that our top six isn’t good enough, no matter how much people try to hyper focus on micro trends while ignoring the macro. They lack a level of physical and mental fortitude that clearly isn’t being captured by underlying statistics but is very clear to one’s eyeballs and in the macro results.

McDavid has missed all of 23 games the last 6 years.

8-7-0 without McDavid in 24-25.

So not surprisingly your arguments are not based on reality.

 

[devilsblood]

This is a cute game you’re playing, but we are talking about the collective of multiple top forwards, not any singular one player.

If 3 different fwds dominate in terms of goals for, while the other 9 get crushed, does this mean the 3 forwards who dominated aren't good?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I call BS on your last statement. A stronger top six forward group softens the blow of a Jack injury and allows this team to at least tread water if/when he is out of the lineup.

The bottom line is that if this team’s best players outside of Jack were as effective as you people insist they are, then this team wouldn’t become lottery contenders the second Jack gets injured.

The friggin Edmonton oilers tread water more effectively than the devils when the best player in the world is out of their lineup.

The argument is that our top six isn’t good enough, no matter how much people try to hyper focus on micro trends while ignoring the macro. They lack a level of physical and mental fortitude that clearly isn’t being captured by underlying statistics but is very clear to one’s eyeballs and in the large sample size of macro results.

Oh, okay. So you want them to get better players. Same! Unfortunately they aren’t finding someone better than Jesper Bratt unless they want a guy that will make double his salary and cost even more assets (nor will Bratt waive his NTC). Timo won’t waive either.

So that leaves Mercer as a guy they can upgrade. Which is what I’ve been wanting for a while now.

 

[Devils Trap]

McDavid has missed all of 25 games the last 5 years.

8-7-0 without McDavid in 24-25.

So not surprisingly your arguments are not based on reality.

1-4-1 without McDavid in 2023/2024
8-7-0 without McDavid in 2024/2025

Which looks good! Except of those 8 wins , NSH / CGY / VAN / BUF / SEA / CGY / SJS are 7 of them. Guess what all of those 7 teams have in common...... not playoff teams.

 

[njdevils1982]

Curious if you guys would do this? I think this cost + 14m in salary is prob too much for me to stomach

to put it nicely...they can f*** off

I’m not convinced. Jack’s been playing hockey longer than he’s been with the Devils. If he wants to leave, he will leave. If he wants to say, he will stay. But I’ve had to pause my fandom until this Quinn deal shakes out. If we don’t make the playoffs next year, Jack is gone.

And if I’m being honest, I’m super happy players are being jackasses and leaving their teams. Rules around NMC need to change especially if the players asks to be traded. I also hope CBA includes language about a cooling off period for guys terminating contracts in season. I’m still mad about the Brandon Saad fiasco. You shouldn’t be able to terminate a contract and sign another contract within the same week. You can argue it’s anti-competitive.

holy shit. how was this even allowed?

 

[devilsblood]

Let's put the core guys aside for a moment.

Do we think Grits is a good player?

Do we think Glass had a bad season?

Or do we think Glendenning stinks and got absolutely crushed? Replace Cotter for Glendening for the sake of this thought experiment.

 

[devilsblood]

1-4-1 without McDavid in 2023/2024
8-7-0 without McDavid in 2024/2025

Which looks good! Except of those 8 wins , NSH / CGY / VAN / BUF / SEA / CGY / SJS are 7 of them. Guess what all of those 7 teams have in common...... not playoff teams.

8-7 isn't even that good. That's like an 87 point pace.

So clearly Draistl is not a core player.